Compagnie & Co (formerly Compagnie Coloniale)

Advent Day 4

They don’t have this tea listed on their website! Each tea bag has a number and I’m assuming it’s a designation for each individual tea blend. This one is 0275458. I’m finding this tea very interesting. I don’t think I’ve come across a peach orange combo tea before. The first few sips were dominated by bright orange flavors that hit the nose as soon as I draw my cup close to my face. It smells like orange juice, but the doesn’t have the bite like the juice. As I sip on and the cup cools I can taste the peach. It reminds me of Lupicia peach flavor. Very light, bright and candy like. There is something a little creamy in the mix coming out in the end of the sip, like vanilla to soften things. I bet this would be brilliant as an iced tea! It makes me sad I only have the one bag and can’t experiment. I haven’t been taking sugar with my tea for some time, but I could see the addition brightening and rounding out the fruit flavors well. I don’t know that I’d buy this at this point, but if I had a little more to play around with I could see it growing on me.

Editing to add that I found the tea on their site. I was reading the wrong part of the label. Language barrier mistakes.

Advent Day 3

Sencha, oolong and red fruit. Okay! This does have a very red berry taste to it. It is a little creamy, no bite. I keep getting hints of something slightly roasted. I can’t quite pick out the red currant, it’s just an overall flavor of red fruit which is such a weird think when I think about it. Flavor association with colors! I know it’s normal for people with synesthesia, but it’s not something I’ve noticed my brain linking before. But back to the tea… I can’t quite ID the sencha or oolong, which probably means they are blended well together. This is an okay cup, not exciting enough for me to seek it out again.
Off to pick persimmons!

Advent Day 2

This is nice and mellow. It came out very light and easy to sip on without being overbearing like other yunnans I’ve tried have been. A little malt and tobacco in the sip and a touch of hay on the finish. It does leavy my mouth feeling dry and my throat a little irritated. The taste is simple, but nice enough. Not one I’d stock.

Advent Day 1 for 2024!

I ordered several teas with my advent and I’m having a hard time getting the hang of steeping them. The flavors aren’t what I’d hoped, but I’ve had challenges with other French tea companies too. Tried a lighter steep on this and it seems to have worked. I’ll have to compare some of the other teas that I have more than one serving of with a side by side steep of different parameters.

I get the pecan notes for sure! The base is light and the whole tea feels very light. Hard to pick out the chocolat notes. Or maybe they blend in so well I can’t pick them out? It’s nice, but not something I’d feel the need to buy. One of those “if I came across it again I’d take another cup” sort of teas. 

2024 sipdown no. 79

Thank you for sharing Cameron!

This tea is so perfume-y, it affected many others sent in this swap that I had to air out for some time.

Alas, it’s so scented that whatever taste may be there is drowned out, but when I really concentrate, I don’t pick up on any particular taste other than perhaps a perfume floral fruitiness? Perhaps this company should pivot into the perfume industry — at least with this tea XD. This is a share-down with a tea-inclined colleague!

From Cameron B!  Thanks again!  I figured I MUST write a note for this one before autumn is done and gone.  Hopefully not for a while yet. The leaves are looking gorgeous.  The description has me double checking if I have the correct tea!  It mentions spices, and I really don’t think there are spices here.  When they say pumpkin, they might mean an occasional pumpkin seed.  Otherwise, there might just be an occasional bit of carrot.  I think it’s funny the description warns there might be celery here.  That would be a new tea ingredient!  The flavor to me tastes more like a subtle cocoa.  Maybe this is the base tea?   Sometimes I taste pumpkin seed.  hmm.  I wonder if the creators of this tea actually tried it? I don’t think it is what they were going for.   I get nothing of cinnamon, caramel, pumpkin, carrot, spices, as the description notes.  It would be lovely if I did! 
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a big mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min

2024 sipdown no. 62

This tea is quite scented and reminds me of the raspberry in DF’s Coquelicot Gourmand. The flavour is more subtle than the scent, but the raspberry comes to the front and is realistic. There are hints of raw almond in the background as well. Overall a lovely tea (for ordering reference: I prefer DF’s version).

Thank you for sharing Cameron!

2024 sipdown no. 55 | This also works for September 22 – Fall Equinox: drink a tea for the new season. :)

This tea is decently strongly scented (S&V still beats it out though), and the scent comes across really clear in taste. There’s some cookie-ness, cinnamon, and hints of brown sugar. This is a really tasty tea that doesn’t come across cloyingly, and it even resteeps fairly well. For some reason, I found myself thinking of Brioche while drinking this — it seems to be at that level of quality.

Thanks for the opportunity to try another great tea Cameron!

Thanks very much again for the awesome box of teas, Cameron B! I was wondering what this one was reminding me of…. and it suddenly dawned on me that it’s those orange flavored cinnamon rolls! But mainly the frosting and not the actual roll. I do really like that flavor of frosting, even if those aren’t really my favorite base of cinnamon rolls. Anyway, there is also a hint of floral flavor on a lighter black tea base. This would definitely be a flavor I would occasionally crave, and when it’s good, it’s good! But if you aren’t really in the mood for this type of flavor, I can see how it might be cloying. The tea flavor this is closest to would be Della Terra’s Orange Brulee. (Not to say these are the same teas at all — they have different bases.) I like it!

Ooh, this is lovely! The “Balade” series are all inspired by and named after places, and so I learned “Terre Neuve” is actually the French name for Newfoundland (hence the maple).

This tea is almost like a different spin on my favorite Momijigari from Lupicia. Really nice balance of sweet and natural-tasting maple with really nice apple flavor. They call it baked apple, but to me it has more tartness and dimension than cooked apples usually do. Definitely a red apple though. There’s also a nuttiness, which to me tastes like pecan.

Really nice, happy to have 100g of it. My only critique would be the black base seems a tad bit more prone to bitterness than other black teas I have from them. But it’s just a touch, so certainly doesn’t ruin the yummy flavors. :)

I thought I remembered not being impressed by this one, but today it’s really reminding me of speculoos. The flavoring is on the light side, but still very noticeable, and pretty spot-on. A balanced combination of buttery cookie, brown sugar or molasses, and gentle cinnamon, ginger, and perhaps nutmeg. The only departure is there’s an almondy note here that is reminding me of Simpson & Vail’s Almond Sugar Cookie. So perhaps speculoos with toasted almonds and a touch more butter?

Quite tasty, and very enjoyable even when it’s stone cold (oops…). It would be interesting to see how it does as a latte since the flavoring is restrained, maybe I’ll have to try that out this fall. :)

I love fig, so when I saw Compagnie & Co offers an oxidized oolong with fig, I couldn’t resist. There are even fig pieces mixed in!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite live up to my expectations. It does have a syrupy dried fruit sort of note to it, but it doesn’t taste specifically of fig to me. It’s in the ballpark, but reminds me more of perhaps golden raisin or even dried apricot. There’s also a sort of floral note to the flavor that I don’t love. The oolong itself is nice enough, smooth and woody without being too roasty or strong. Perhaps next time I’ll try more tea with a shorter steep to see if I can get more of the flavoring to peek through…

This one is a bit strange…

It’s their version of a pumpkin spice black tea, but it’s very savory? I definitely get pumpkin, and also specifically pumpkin seed (which makes sense given there are pumpkin seeds in it). Very squashy overall with no sweetness whatsoever, and no discernable spices.

It’s not bad, per se. It’s just not what I was expecting from “pumpkin & spice flavors”, and it’s a bit odd to have a tea that kind of tastes like a pumpkin soup ha ha. Probably going to put this into my rehoming box, maybe someone else will enjoy it.

Really unsure why I chose this tea to order, as I never like honey flavoring in tea. It always tastes artificial, and reminds me of those honey cough drops. :P

This is a nice enough tea. The orange is sweet and juicy, and the honey isn’t horribly artificial-tasting. It still doesn’t taste like actual honey (it never does), it’s more cloying in a way? Maybe it’s the floral notes that are off to me.

Regardless, this one will go into my rehoming box, because although it’s drinkable, I can’t see making it through 100g of it ha ha. Serves me right for ordering something I know I don’t like. XD

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

Of course, the Christmas Tea! See, this is what I mean about saving a festive tea for the last day, heh heh… :P

So, unfortunately this just isn’t a good match for me, ha ha. It’s almond and cherry together – my two nemeses, joining forces! XD So needless to say, I dun like it. Very candy-sweet and cloying, and also medicinal. Jergens lotion, but make it tea! But I wouldn’t expect to like these flavors, so I’m not mad at it ha ha.

In terms of the advent overall, this was sort of middle of the road for me. I’m never a huge fan of when companies mix in unflavored teas, because they’re never great and I’m always disappointed to see them. I guess I’ve been spoiled by mostly getting my plain teas from specialists, and usually directly from the country of origin. But I do think the variety here was good, in terms of different flavors and types of tea. A good smattering of herbals without being too many, and only a few single-flavor teas like vanilla and caramel (which I don’t typically love). I don’t think there were any teas I was totally in love with, but there were a few that I would consider picking up if I were already making an order. I don’t think it’s a bad advent, but I do enjoy Dammann Frères more, and I think they’re somewhat similar so I would recommend that one over this.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 23

This is mostly just honeybush and rooibos – there’s linden, but I can’t really taste it much. Mostly it’s mellow and woody with a slight sweetness. Fine, but not something I would reach for.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 22

A straight-up caramel black tea with flower petals. I thought I smelled something tart and fruity when it was dry, but clearly I was crazy. :P

It’s on the lighter side, more of a fluffy and creamy caramel sort of flavor. Maybe like one of those decadent Starbucks blended drinks with the caramel drizzled all over the top. There is a nice caramelized sugar note that adds a bit of depth, but overall it reminds me of some kind of caramel whipped cream or maybe a caramel pudding.

Tasty, even though caramel isn’t my favorite solo flavor in tea. Enjoyed it as my first tea of the day!

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 21

A goji flavored green tea? Interesting…

I don’t have a ton of experience with goji by itself, but in blends it usually tastes a bit tart to me, and this doesn’t have any tartness at all. It’s quite sweet, in fact, with a flavor that maybe reminds me of strawberry? It’s not quite, but I can’t think of anything closer. The base is a mixture of green teas, but I feel I’m mostly tasting the grassy sencha with a bit of extra earthiness and minerality from the chun mee.

It’s a nice fruity tea, but it doesn’t really taste like goji berries to me. More like strawberry meets dried apricot maybe?

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 20

An interesting choice for a holiday tea, green and white teas with red fruits and baked apple. It’s a nice evening tea, very mellow base with a similar candy-sweet red fruits flavor to the black version I had the other day. I do taste the apple as well, it actually blends seamlessly with the green tea. The red fruits is the stronger of the two flavors, but the apple gives a nice sweetness and makes the whole thing just a bit more comforting.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 19

Ugh work. Don’t they know I have advent teas to drink?! XP

Ah, red fruits, a French classic. This one is quite nice – I mostly get raspberry and a bit of strawberry, and it is somewhat candylike but not cloying. Very sweet and more syrupy instead of tart.

I don’t know that I would order it, but I very much enjoyed my small mugful this morning. Classic for a reason! :)

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18

So this is a lapsang. It smelled quite smoky dry, but I’m finding the smokiness to be very mild steeped up. Mostly tastes like a very smooth, woody, and earthy Chinese black tea with just a touch of savory smoke.

Very smooth and pleasant, with a hefty texture.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 17

Another of their holiday blends!

This is quite nice – a very mellow mix of sweet candy cinnamon, gently herbaceous lemon balm and verbena, and subtly bright orange. There’s something slightly cookie-y about it as well, perhaps it’s the almond mentioned in the description. It’s just a hint though.

I like it more and more as I sip. I would consider ordering some of this, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to make an order just to get some. We’ll see if there are any other teas I end up wanting once I’m finished with this advent. :)

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 16

Don’t you love it when companies tell you nothing about what a tea is supposed to taste like? “…flavoured with our secret Angel aroma” LMAO! So it tastes like angels then? :P

Honestly, I still don’t know what the “angel aroma” is, because I’m mostly getting the verbena. It almost tastes lavender-ish, maybe that was in the flavoring? There’s a light fruitiness in the finish, but I’m not sure I could hazard a guess at which fruits.

Mostly tastes vaguely floral/herbaceous with verbena and potentially lavender in there, with a touch of something fruity. Not bad, but meh.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 15

Just a classic Moroccan mint style tea – gunpowder with mint leaves.

Really enjoying it tonight though, there’s a nice balance between the earthy, mineral, and slightly toasty green tea and the light and cool mint. It’s a really good choice for winding down on the couch in the evening. :)